The present invention relates to wired remote control of equipment and/or implements carried by or towed behind a vehicle, and more particularly to an access feature for introducing a control cable from the implement into the operator's cab. The invention has been conceived in relation to an agricultural tractor but it is to be understood that the invention is applicable to any vehicle or even static arrangement having a cab or enclosure and requiring the use of remote control cables.
Presently, external equipment carried by an agricultural tractor or agricultural implements, such as balers or pull-type forage harvesters, hitched by a tractor, commonly comprise components which have to be remotely controlled by means of a control box installed on the tractor's operator station. Especially with tractors provided with cabs enclosing the operator station, some difficulties are experienced to pass the control cable, leading from the control box to the remotely controlled implement or equipment, through the cab structure.
In this connection, it is a common practice to provide the rear wall of the cab with an aperture, of small dimensions, to allow the control cable to enter the cab therethrough. When no control cables are employed, the aperture commonly is sealed with a removable panel member. However, in as much as control boxes normally are relatively large, it is impossible to pass them through the small aperture in the cab structure and therefore, each time a control box is installed or removed from the operator's station, the connecting cables have to be disconnected from the box, which is a cumbersome and time-consuming operation, if at all possible, since some types of control boxes are not fitted with a breakable form of connection.
Of course, to overcome the above disadvantage, it is possible to provide an access passage of larger dimensions, through which any control box of standardized dimensions freely could be entered into the cab without difficulty. It will be appreciated however that, with such an arrangement and due to the fact that the passage should remain open during the operation of the machine as a result of the control cable passing therethrough, the large, uncovered opening in the cab would be detrimental to the sound proofing thereof and further adversely would affect the air conditioning within the cab. Moreover, the ingress of dirt and dust, or eventually chemicals, would be permitted; all the foregoing being unacceptable.